Wayne Farrin, a South Bristol native and Jefferson resident, is involved with many aspects of the lives of Midcoast residents, from softball coach to budget committee chair to local Realtor. (Johnathan Riley photo)
Community is not a passive activity, and for Wayne Farrin, a South Bristol native and Jefferson resident, getting involved has been a natural part of living in the Midcoast.
Farrin grew up down the Thompson Road in South Bristol. His father, Paul Farrin, was the youngest of 12, and most of them stayed in the area.
“Sometimes you have someone walk in trying to buy a property and you find out that you’re related,” Farrin said.
Farrin has been a licensed real estate agent in the area since 1988 and run his own real estate agency, Farrin Properties, since 2001.
“It’s crazy; I’ve been doing this for 35 years!” Farrin said, laughing in the conference room of what used to be Farrin Properties on Main Street in Damariscotta.
Farrin recently got out of the business a little bit by selling Farrin Properties to Jim Matel and Althia Young whom Farrin affectionately calls “Team Round Pond.” Matel and Young renamed the business Peninsula Properties.
While Farrin has carved a name for himself as a significant presence in the Midcoast real estate scene, his community involvement goes beyond knowing the area and helping both locals and out-of-staters find a home.
Farrin has served on many boards and coached just as many sports teams over the years. He held a seat on the board of directors for the Central Lincoln County YMCA for six years, is currently involved with the Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce and Information Bureau, and has been the chair of the Jefferson Budget Committee for 10 of the 20 years he’s served on the committee.
“Participation is a big thing,” Farrin said. “Everyone wants to drop their kids off at practice, but not everyone wants to stay. There’s always a need for coaches and other positions within the community.”
Farrin has also been a part of the alumni association for Lincoln Academy, helped coach varsity softball at LA, and coached little league softball; the list may go on.
“That’s what I can recall at the moment,” Farrin said. “It’s amazing what you lose track of.”
Between his various commitments and other projects, Farrin manages to squeeze in a little cardio at the CLC YMCA noon basketball league for going on 15 years now. On the court, he is known for his selfless play and his work in the post.
Growing up, Farrin spent his summers lobstering with his dad out of South Bristol, catching pogies with his uncle at night. When he turned 12, he had saved enough to have his own boat made by his relatives at Farrin’s Boat Shop.
“Cost me $250 to have my own boat built,” Farrin said. “I had about 40 traps, but it was enough. When I got to high school, I had a bit more.”
Farrin went to South Bristol School and then Lincoln Academy, where his wife, Lynn Farrin, also attended. Their kids, Caleb and Abby, eventually did too.
After graduating from Lincoln Academy, Farrin attended Southern Maine Vocational School, now known as Southern Maine Community College. There, Farrin got his marine engineer’s license through the Coast Guard.
“A lot of folks assume that I went to Maine Maritime Academy, but I didn’t,” Farrin said. “It cost me less than $300 a semester to go there, plus textbooks.”
By the time he graduated, he had a year’s worth of sea time before he got his first job, where he was paid the apprentice wage of $10 a day to work on the ships.
“I got my first job working on an old Gulf Oil Ship for a company called American Heavy Lifting” Farrin said. “I worked that job for over a decade. But after Caleb turned one, I decided to quit the job so I could watch the kids grow up.”
Farrin has even helped out with campaigns for the Democratic Party.
“I never really got involved with the political aspect of it, but I would show up and ask what I could do and drove people around,” he said.
In 2020, Farrin ran for the Democratic nomination for Maine House of Representatives for District 88, ultimately losing to Christopher Hamilton.
“I wish we could’ve made it to the next round,” Farrin said. “People know me and know that I’m more than just the D next to my name on the ballot.”
Hamilton lost to Michael Lemelin, R-Chelsea, in the general election.
Farrin said he wished he had been able be more involved with the election, but the family had its hands full with running the Jefferson Market & General Store, which they acquired in 2020.
“We started off looking for people who were interested in running it, but we had to fix things up first, and before you know it, it became our COVID project and we’ve been running it ever since,” Farrin said. “We’re the only place on the Damariscotta Lake where you can pull up on your boat and get something to eat.”
Caleb Farrin and Lynn Farrin do a lot of the work at the store, but on some days Wayne Farrin can be seen standing behind the register, helping patrons place orders.
Jefferson Market & General Store, at 242 Waldoboro Road in Jefferson, is open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday. For more information, go to jeffersonmarketgenstoremaine.com or find the business on Facebook.
After the previous owners had shut down the Jefferson Market abruptly in February 2018, there was a period of time where the town had no store to turn to. With no downtown to speak of, the effect of this was felt immediately by residents in the area.
“There was a need in the community, and we wanted to help,” Farrin said.
(Do you have a suggestion for a “Characters of the County” subject? Email info@lcnme.com with the subject line “Characters of the County.”)
